Is it time to grow your business and your leadership team?

Is it that time of year to put a ‘March’ on your business growth? Do you need to review and make changes in your business but also need managers skilled to lead and take those plans forward. Leaders who can create and execute the strategic plans to give the business a new future.

Here at LinQs we coach business owners and managers to grow their business. As our leadership development training is also work based our level 7 Strategic Management and Leadership programme sits very nicely alongside the business growth coaching. Because this programme includes one to one skills coaching and the assessment process to measure the manager’s competency in developing and executing the strategic business plan. As we match the key objectives of the strategic business plan to the optional units of the award we therefore coach the manager to understand and deliver new skills areas. So if the plan requires for example the need to shape the culture, manage governance areas and a marketing strategy we coach the manager one to one to deliver those strategies. The advantage to both the business and the manager is that whilst the manager is working in the business they are working on the business and to attain a postgraduate qualification. A qualification to add confidence and strength to your leadership team.

Total value of the offer is £500+ which is only available for the 1st 10 registrations by 21 March 18

So how does the March offer work?

LinQs level 7 Strategic Leadership programme is all coached one to one online over 10 monthly sessions, with easy access to your learning plans, strategic analysis and plans templates. In March 2018 you would pay a one off registration fee including full assessment costs of £995, then pay £190 per month coaching session from your 2nd session. This special offer gives you 10 sessions for the price of 9 sessions, so £190 free. Plus the one to one online coaching session for either a director or manager, valued at £297, and a copy of “How to Build the Passion and the Profits For Your Business” that retails at £14.99. Giving a special total value of £501.99.

Why are we doing this. Well we’ve accessed commercial funding to finance leadership development. The timing is perfect as we want to make sure that after the Easter period we have a group of committed senior managers ready to grow their business. What’s more that if managers register now and as previous candidates have achieved in 9 months, they could still be qualified in 2018, but certainly no later than March 2019.

With the new CQC KLOEs inspection framework currently timetabled to start from November 2017 for across the services they audit. Will your care organisation have checked these out and be ready with a strategy to meet your inspection?

The new KLOEs, that is the Key Lines of Enquiries, published by CQC last month, include a timetable for applying the new framework to the sectors audited by them. The CQC have clearly identified the large number of changes for the new 5 KLOEs. The new KLOEs form part of the current consultation process on improving quality standards for the care and NHS services the CQC audit.

Are you ready to create a strategy for the new KLOEs?

To create a strategy you need to identify the future vision and intent of an organisation for change or to solve a problem. The change factor in this instance is the new KLOEs. There are 5 key areas and as a leadership in care specialist the ‘well-led’ criteria attracts us to one area, that is the need to lead the strategic plan.

Although the ‘well-led’ criteria is not new, the reference to strategic planning is a key part of that standard. Your managers recently trained to level 5 or degree level in care leadership may have some strategic planning skills. But that level of training has not always included an understanding of strategic planning and your established managers could now be challenged.

Also its important to note that if there are 5 areas with key changes who will lead on all these new criteria. Will it be a leadership team or an appointed lead on each one or all the strategies?

Leadership development for strategic planning

With senior care management development for strategic planning skills now higher on the list of an organisation’s priorities here’s a few current leadership development opportunities:

Firstly, check out the regional funding available for business growth development in your area. Also look at one to one coaching available from a leadership and business coach to gain strategic planning skills very quickly and limit your manager’s off the job time. See our blog on executing a Strategic Plan.

For an introduction to planning your strategy for the new KLOEs register to attend a free webinar on 30 August 2017 hosted by AJ Recruitment and turro Ltd. Gill Bailey of LinQs will be on the webinar sharing information on developing a business strategy for the new KLOEs.

Working with one of my clients last week he told me that from my leadership workshops he gets ‘motivated and inspired’ to develop his business and his leadership skills. This is valuable and recurring feedback from my delegates. Therefore let me share with you how I achieve this delivery goal in my leadership workshops for 5 key leadership development areas?

1. Personal Development Plan

All my workshops are interactive and start with individual introductions. I facilitate the discussion on individual skills and interests and constantly match this to their personal development during the workshop. Together we identify personal goals, organisational goals and the demands of the current job role. I facilitate the learning and add valuable and relevant business and leadership experience to our discussions for the benefit of individual understanding. The workshop interaction and the personal development tools I provide enable personal development planning within their own life and workplace. I sow the seed, provide the tools and add weight to the priorities. My delegates take away action points for their personal and leadership development.

2. Organisational Vision and Goals

The workshop groups are made up of established and aspiring managers and leaders of small and large organisations. Therefore an understanding of organisational vision and goals and how they are arrived at is important to their leadership development. The group discuss how an organisation promotes its vision for their business sector, their ethics and the values they promote. It is interesting how often vision statements and company goals are taken as read or seen as just a promotional image in their business sector. The leaders refer to the wording of their own organisation’s vision and goals; mobile phones are switched on to check their organisation’s website information. By discussion of how vision and goals are supported and encouraged within their organisation and leadership responsibilities we reflect on opportunities for improvement. Referring to examples of large well known organisations helps delegates to understand how effectively visions and goals are delivered and we compare these to their own. Small Business leaders often go away, rethink and rewrite new visions and goals. Other leaders gain comfort that their own organisation’s vision and goals are easy to follow and uphold but they must review their leadership development to deliver them.

3. Business Planning

Whether they are leaders of small businesses or have a management area of responsibility in large organisations, the skill of business planning is a valuable tool. Our group discussion focuses on the format of a business plan and how it is supported by organisational policy and procedure and promoted to employees. Again individual personal reflection and my own experience stimulate the group discussion. Reference to the old adage ‘if you don’t know where you are going, how will you know that you have got there?’ promotes the importance of this planning tool. This topic leads us into managing operations and setting SMART objectives, productivity, managing quality, their sector standards and the challenges the leaders encounter. An action point will be two fold: To review or create the business plan for their area of responsibility and their leadership of the planning and delivery. I provide the tools and the information but advise that they check their organisation’s established business planning tools and support their own organisational values and goals.

4. Productive working relationships

With the business plan in place, discussion on the systems to support those including policies and procedures, we focus on the working relationships which are developed to achieve the business goals and objectives. The group discusses the important interaction with their internal and external work colleagues. We build on the good practice in communications and techniques for managing conflict and their day to day application. The opportunity for group activities, as used throughout the workshops, and individual questions and answers promote the importance of the development of these relationships. The value and importance of working relationships, expressed as a marketing tool for ‘word of mouth’ publicity on the good communications practice experienced from their organisation, often becomes a new objective for the leaders.

5. Continuous improvement

An organisation should have a system for continuous improvement to develop and progress the business. Our group discussion focuses on sector and organisational challenges, areas for improvement and sector priorities. With reference to good practice techniques and tools, relevant case studies, we discuss the benefits which have and could be achieved through planned continuous improvement objectives. An action plan discussed by the group for their leadership and business development promotes a realistic approach on what objectives individuals can take forward from the session.

As part of my company’s own continuous improvement, LinQs are providing free and easy access to further leadership group discussion to the growing number of our ‘motivated and inspired’ LinQs Leaders with their exclusive members’ only Facebook page.

Additional Support

LinQs Leaders working towards a leadership award or business development goal receive a tailored programme to match their leadership development. LinQs provide a blended learning approach of workshops, workbooks, online learning, coaching and support for individual learning styles and personal development. For further information on you development areas Contact Us

It is 10 years since I set up LinQs with a vision to provide a quality business support service for the social care sector. LinQs is now a recognised provider of Leadership and Management, professional development training and consultancy projects to the care sector. Our service is delivered by professional consultants with a range of experience in management, legislation, care, healthcare, housing with care, contracting, health and safety, consultancy and training delivery. We consistently receive excellent feedback from our clients, partners and learners about the benefits of our blended learning method of delivery which leads to improved performance in the workplace.

I look forward to sharing the LinQs experience through our blog and social media links.